India - 3

Nov 12: Chandigarh - Dharamshala

In the morning I got to the bus terminal and after a fair bit of puzzle-solving and navigating through the crowds, I managed to find the counter where they sold tickets to Dharamshala. Indians - even in orderly Chandigarh - do not believe in queuing for anything. Instead, they like to cluster around the point of interest (guy selling tickets, bus door, etc.) and all simultaneously press forward, typically with extended hands, holding money. After significant effort, I found myself at the very front of a large crowd of men, all clustered in this fashion around the ticket counter. It was no small achievement: I had my backpack on, I was a woman and the only foreigner. As I shoved my rupee-holding hand closest to the face of the ticket seller and shouting the loudest "Dharmshala", I experienced great pride and perhaps a taste of what it's like to be Indian. Much to my disappointment, however, the ticket seller looked up and proceeded to ignore me. But I persisted, pushing the note and yelling my destination. I wasn't getting anywhere and I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. 

A young man tapped on my shoulder and in excellent English asked where I was going. Then he asked something of the ticket seller in Hindi (or Punjabi?) and told me that I was at the right counter, but they weren't selling the tickets to Dharamsala yet. A minute later, just as I had stepped away from my hard-earned spot all of sudden they were selling them. So my friend tracked me down to tell me so, told the seller to take my money first, found one of the two other ladies who was going on the same bus (and spoke English!) and told her to "guide" me.  And just like that, he was gone. Another random act of kindness...

The trip was long and boring (after a while one becomes desensitized to the absurdness of Indian driving and the countless near-misses). I made it to Dharamsala and found a centrally-located hotel. For $11/night, bed, hot water, toilet paper, towel and cockroaches were all included. Two nights would be enough.

Nov 13: Dharamsala 

Dharamsala (or technically,  McLeod Ganj, which is 4 km uphill from it) is where the Tibetan government-in-exile is headquartered and where the Dalai Lama lives. The town has attracted many Tibetan refugees over the years and they can be seen all around town. There are many Buddhist monks and nuns walking around in maroon robes. The setting is beautiful: the town is carved into the slopes of the Himalayas, offering great views and good exercise! While the day was pleasantly warm, as soon as the sun went down, it got quite chilly. To keep warm, Tibetans wrap themselves in thick shawls made out of yak wool and drink butter tea (black tea with milk, butter and salt). 

McLeod Ganj was much sleepier than I would have expected. While there were some Westerners and Japanese/Indian/Korean tourists, vendors selling Tibetan artifacts and restaurants offering international fare, the vibe was very relaxed and the scale was quite small. 

I spent the morning at the Tibetan museum (truly heart-breaking!) and visited the main Buddhist temple. As it turned out, there was a service when I got there and about 150 monks and as many other Buddhists were chanting and praying. I explored the various parts of the temple and through a side entrance, found myself unexpectedly at the foot of the main Buddha statue, directly across from the monks who were praying in my direction. At first I assumed I had gone the wrong way, but realized that I hadn't trespassed and the monks were too focused on their chants anyway to pay any attention to me. Certainly my view was quite amazing and I'll keep the image in my head for a long time. Of course, I wished I could pull out my camera, but it would have been inappropriate, if not offensive. 

I walked around town several times over in the hours that followed, concluded that there was nothing worth buying (and mostly, carrying) and decided to take the main road and venture out of town. I went up for about 4 km to another small settlement and thoroughly enjoyed the walk. The slopes are covered with pine trees and rhododendrons, reminding me of home. The views are spectacular - steep and soon-to-be-snow-capped peaks, dotted with small villages with brightly-painted houses, a small road zigzagging up the mountain. There were lots of monkeys in the forest and while they can get aggressive, they had no interest in me (it helped I had no food on me). 

Today is Diwali, Hindus' festival of lights and one of their most important holidays. I was a bit bummed to end up in a predominantly Buddhist town on this very special Hindu day, but there've been plenty of celebrations all around. Many of the stores and houses set up candles and other lights as soon as it got dark and kids have been setting up fireworks and crackers galore. I was even treated to some Diwali sweets at one of the stores I visited.

Despite the noise outside, it'll be an early night for me as I have to leave at 4 am tomorrow to catch a bus to Amritsar. So, I'm signing off...

India - 2

Looks like updating the blog though my tablet is a bit tricky, so I'll have to post new updates, as opposed to adding to the previous one. Here's the latest:

Nov 9 Rishikesh 

Rishikesh was a pleasant surprise. Its setting is truly lovely - it occupies both banks of the Ganges, at the foothills of the Himalayas, and has two pedestrian hanging bridges that stitch the town together. The Ganges, so close to its source, is majestic: it's wide, fast-flowing and clean (as it will never be again down its 900km journey to the Bay of Bengal). I washed my feet in the river, something that wouldn't have even crossed my mind in Haridwar, just 30 km downstream. 

Unlike Haridwar, Rishikesh had a lot of Westerners. In the streets I heard Russian and Hebrew, and some Japanese and English. Foreigners come here for extended periods to learn or improve their yoga, meditate, relax or "find themselves" (a hotel sign invitingly advertised "spiritual seekers are welcome"). Similarly, the town is a magnet for holy men of various degrees of holiness and teachers with dubious credentials. While it is true that not all who wander are lost, many clearly are and quite a few of those end up in Rishikesh. Among them, were The Beatles, who spent some time in the area in 1968 and wrote a few of their big hits. They ended up being disappointed by their guru ("you made a fool of everyone") who made sexual advances to one of his students (Sexy Sadie). The ashram where The Beatles stayed was at the edge of town and abandoned some 15 years ago, but I went there to take a look. I saw some holy men sitting in the shade, monkeys inspecting the garbage, a few stray dogs and two other tourists. I knew this was not where I belonged and while I was glad to have stopped by beautiful Rishikesh, I was ready to push on.

Nov 10 Rishikesh - Chandigarh 

I took a rickshaw in the morning to the bus terminal, hoping there would be a bus to Chandigarh. When I arrived, there were lots of parked busses, but all the destinations were written in Hindi. Fortunately, by asking around, I found a bus that left for Chandigarh about an hour later. The journey of 260 km took over 7 hours (on flat terrain!), but on the flip side, it cost only $4. Taking public transportation is always the most authentic way of traveling around, but not always the most pleasant. In the 7 hours of journey, (of which I spent half jumping up from my seat and the other half falling down back into my seat, courtesy of the endless bumps and holes in the road) we only had one stop, five hours in, and it was at a place so primitive and dirty that it made me question my choice of not booking a private company bus...

Upon arriving at my destination, I took a cycle rickshaw to a near-by hotel recommended by Lonely Planet. For $20/night, it was a fine choice with a good location and hot water (no Internet). I decided to get me a nice Punjabi dinner and ended up in the Punjab Grill (by Jiggs Kalra), one of the top restaurants in town and had a truly spectacular meal! It was my first non-vegetarian meal in India and it did not disappoint. Gone are the humble brown rice, fresh coconut and mildly spiced meals of Kerala. Punjabi food, like everything else it seems, knows no restraints. My main course was the "Raan Hari Singh Nalwa", an unbelievably tender meat ("kid", so I'm guessing goat?), marinated in a exquisite combination of yogurt with cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, pepper and other spices. It came with tasty garlic naan. For desert I ordered the kulfi (yumm!). It was the most expensive meal I've had in India ($36 in all, that is almost as much as both nights in my hotel), but it was worth every rupee. The  portion could have fed 3 people, so I had them pack the left overs and gave them to the lucky cycle-rickshaw rider who dropped me back at the hotel.  I know Colin would have loved that meal and I was really bummed he couldn't be there to enjoy it. 

Nov  11 - Chandigarh

Who would have thought that Le Corbusier (who in 1928 designed Colin's and Dad's favorite chair) spent much of his creative energy in architecting an Indian city, as well as a number of its main buildings and landmarks?! In the 50's, newly independent and partitioned India commissioned Le Corbusier to plan a modern city. The resulting Chandigarh is unlike any other Indian metropolis - it's neatly organized in a grid, split into "sectors", marked with signs, lined with wide and straight boulevards, dotted with parks and even decorated with an artificial lake, for good measure. One would expect nothing less of a Swiss. Maybe it is my Western design sensibilities or just the thrill of being able to easily orient myself for the first time, but I loved Chandigarh! It helped, also, that the weather was pleasant and I was able to spend the entire day exploring without getting a heat stroke. 

I started at the Nek Chand Fantasy Rock garden, a whacky garden built in the 50s, with architectural salvage and other waste. It seems that Nek Chand was well ahead of the recycle and reuse trend . It was a fun place to explore and I was pleasantly surprised to see that it had been kept in a relatively good shape. The site was filled with school groups and other domestic tourists and I was constantly stared at, and asked to have my picture taken with. Whenever anyone asked, I obliged, though very quickly the "one snap, please" became many snaps, with several cameras and a mushrooming number of people around me. It was all friendly and in good spirit, so I was patient.  I was less thrilled when I caught people taking pictures of me without my permission (it happened a lot too). In quite a few cases, people stopped me and gestured for me to take a picture of them. Sure! They seemed to derive great pride from the fact that *they* - out of the billion of Indians, would be immortalized in my India vacation pictures. Of course, I was thrilled to have the voluntary photo opps. 

One of the young couples that asked me for "one snap, please" ended up walking with me to the nearby lake and we had a very nice conversation. They were college students, recently engaged and with big dreams for the future. The girl said that she wanted to "escape the narrow-mindedness" of her area and the boy said he wanted better employment opportunities. They had set their minds on moving to Canada or the  US upon getting married. It is immigrants like them who make the new world prosper and I very much hope their plans come true. 

I spent much of the afternoon visiting the various Le Corbusier buildings and the museum dedicated to him. I also strolled through the large rose garden, which supposedly has over 800 varieties, though I saw exactly two in bloom. I found my way to the Indian Coffeehouse, a Chandigarh institution, which has been around for as long as the city itself. At some point the employees bought over the company and it is now proudly employee-run and employee-owned. Nothing seems to have changed in it - the decor, the plates, the prices and its popularity seem to be frozen in time. I managed to find a single seat and ordered a masala dosa. A very friendly lady came over mid-meal to "check on me" and make sure I'm doing well in Chandigarh and during my India visit. She wrote down her phone number for me, in case I got into a pickle while in India. So kind! 

I originally had planned to head to Daramsala tomorrow, but it looks like I may be unable to find a bus to get me there. If that's the case, I'll skip the Dalai Lama and head to Amritsar directly.

India

When Colin and I travel,  he has the habit of taking notes on what we do and see each day. We always enjoy going back through the notes upon our return and relive our experiences. Now that I'm traveling alone, I figured I'd continue the tradition. My notes will also help me share my experiences with Colin. I figured I can post my rough notes online, whenever I get wifi access, for a quasi real time update. Hopefully Colin can add the notes from the first to weeks of our trip. 

Nov 2 - toddy; houseboat theft

Nov 3 - dropped off Colin at Kochi airport, drove back to Kumarakom. Had nice dinner at the homestay. We enjoyed some traditional South Indian fare in Crispin's house, including: puttu, appam, idiyappam, fished wrapped in banana leaf, the most delicious dahl, sambar, coconut chutney, etc. The food in his house was one of the highlights of our stay in Kumarakom. 

Nov 4 - 

Told Crispin about theft, he made me write a report. 

Lynn, Fred and I left for Kochi. Checked into Tissa's Inn, very nice hotel, a true island of luxury (well, our standards of adjusted while on the trip). It feels good to have a clean room, comfortable bed and hot water. Wifi very flaky, so unfortunately it was hard to catch up on email and plan the rest of the trip. 

Went out for a couple of shows at the cultural center - a traditional Keralan kalarippayat (martial arts) demonstration and Kathakali (play) performance. We also watched the performers apply their dramatic make-up and prepare for Kathakali. Seeing one of the traditional South Indian performances had been high on my list and I was not disappointed. 

Nov 5 

fort Cochin

Sree Krishna resto - masala dosas

fishing nets

Accepted Groupon offer.

Nov 6

Shopping for antiques. Almost got an entire container to ship from Crafters, but backed out at the last minute. Got a single wooden carving of a door protector deity. Let's hope it makes it to our house in one piece and can protect our door and house for a long time.

Oceano - had a delicious meal! My favorite was the shrimp vindaloo - I wish Colin could try it!!!

Nov 7 

Got up before 5, said goodbyes with Lynn and Fred at the airport and flew to Delhi. As soon as I landed, I saw Obama had been re-elected, yay! In Delhi I managed to get to a FedEx drop off (of course, not without being given the wrong address, trying to get fleeced by tuk tuk drivers and coughing  my way through Delhi traffic) and shipped 10 kg of luggage to my hotel in Jaipur. It's mostly wedding clothes, which I don't need to carry with me around. With a lighter load, I was ready for the next stretch.

16.5 hrs after leaving Cochin, using a variety of transportation devices: car, plane, public bus, auto-rickshaw (x 2), inter-state bus and cycle-rickshaw, I finally made it to Haridwar! 

First impressions: what a difference from Kerala! Clearly, I'm in North India. The weather was actually quite cool - people were wrapped in warm shawls (I need to get one). Saw stands with veggies and fruits that are well familiar - nothing exotic to my eye. Air is breathable. Because I arrived after dark, I didn't want to take any chances and bee-lined for the most highly recommended property in the area, Ganga Lahari. It's on the expensive side: $72/night, breakfast included, but it's right on the Ganges and it has a decent standard. Fortunately,they had availability, so i checked in for two nights. 

I'm clearly getting into more remote India, it's exciting! Haridwar  is a big pilgrimage site and especially with Diwali being only days away, the place is packed with domestic travelers. 

Nov 8 - 

Wow. Haridwar by daytime was quite an experience: Pilgrims, beggars, sellers, wondering holy men, madmen, dogs, cows, monkeys, water buffalos, donkeys and horses all crowding the roads and competing for space with an array of vehicles including bicycle rickshaws, auto rickshaws, carts, trucks and busses. Wondering through the maze of alleys in the bazaar and navigating all this traffic took all of my energy in the morning. In sight were colorful saris from across the country; flower garlands for the temples; garbage of all origins; shawls, sweaters, hats and blankets to keep warm; vegetables and fruits; pirated Bollywood movies; and piles of completely useless things crowding the stalls. My nostrils were offended by rotting "stuff", urine, spices, burning intense, shit, diesel, to name a few recognizable scents. 

At night, I went to a fire ceremony and even got talked into having a pooja (prayer) performed for me. At the end of the ceremony hundreds of flower baskets, with a candle inside, get sent down the Ganges. I sent mine too. It was a lovely sight. 

I'm off to Rishikesh - the "yoga capital of the world"- tomorrow for a night. It's just an hour away by bus and it's a bit of a foreigners' spot, because The Beatles were here in 1968 and wrote a lot of their White Album songs during their visit. I have mixed feeling about checking it out (supposedly it's very new agey & I have no interest in quick spiritual fixes), but it's close by...